A Bundle Of English Reports, News and Editorials For October 22-23/2019 Addressing the Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon
Compiled By: Elias Bejjani
October 22-23/2019
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on October 22-23/2019
No Solutions In Lebanon As Long As it Remains Occupied By Hezbollah
Independent Secular government
Hariri Eyes ‘Very Positive’ Donor Response to Reforms
France gives tentative nod to Lebanese government over reforms
PM’s office says foreign governments back Lebanon reform goals
ISG Backs Hariri’s Reforms, People’s Right to Democratic Expression
Paris Urges Respect for Lebanese Right to Protest, Encourages Reforms
Western Countries Praise Lebanese Protests
Lebanese Keep Up Protests as Jumblat Downplays Proposed Reforms as ‘Weak Drugs’
Army Says ‘Impostor Cleric’ Held for Distributing Money to Protesters
Shehayyeb Reverses Decision on Reopening of Educational Institutes
Berri: Govt. Should Have Paralleled Plan with Immediate Reforms
Report: Nasrallah Met Khalil Sunday
Lebanese Protesters Sing Into the Night, Unsatisfied With New Economic Reforms
Army Stops ‘Provocative’ Hizbullah, AMAL Flag Bearers on Motorbikes
Popular Revolt Puts Hizbullah under Rare Street Pressure
Lebanon, Chile, Algeria, Hong Kong: The Planet in Revolt
From the virtual world to the real world: How Lebanese youth’s online revolution powered street protests
Argentina Designates Hezbollah a Terror Group
Lebanon’s leaders under siege from people power
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 22-23/2019
No Solutions In Lebanon As Long As it Remains Occupied By Hezbollah/Elias Bejjani/October 20/2019
Urgent Prayer Request from Heart for Lebanon.org for their Christian work with the growing numbers of Syrian refugees pouring into Lebanon/jackiskeels/October 20/2019
Independent Secular government/Roger Bejjani/October 22/2019
Popular Revolt Puts Hizbullah under Rare Street Pressure/Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 22/2019
Lebanon, Chile, Algeria, Hong Kong: The Planet in Revolt/Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 22/2019
From the virtual world to the real world: How Lebanese youth’s online revolution powered street protests/Najla Houssari/Arab News/October 22, 2019
Argentina Designates Hezbollah a Terror Group/Luis Petri/Gatestone Institute/October 22/2019
Lebanon’s leaders under siege from people power/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/October 22/2019
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on October 22-23/2019
No Solutions In Lebanon As Long As it Remains Occupied By Hezbollah
Elias Bejjani/October 20/2019
لا حلول في ظل احتلال وإرهاب حزب الله
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/79665/elias-bejjani-no-solutions-in-lebanon-as-long-as-it-remains-occupied-by-hezbollah-%d9%84%d8%a7-%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%88%d9%84-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b8%d9%84-%d8%a7%d8%ad%d8%aa%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%84-%d9%88%d8%a5/
Lebanese angry Citizens from all walks of life, from all the country’s diversified religious denominations, and from all Lebanese geographical areas are taking place in both the demonstrations and sit-ins.
The peoples’ demands are very basic and all are legitimate.
They want a decent life, in a decent country, that is not occupied by the terrorist Hezbollah, free, independent, democratic and where the law prevails.
They want the rulers as well as the politicians to be public servants and not thieves, terrorists, Trojans and dictators.
Hopefully promising patriotic leaders, qualified activists and politicians will emerge as soon as possible to lead the peaceful protests before the terrorist Hezbollah and the Trojan rotten political parties’ leader and puppet officials abort it.
Meanwhile, the Hezbollah Iranian armed militia is the cancer that has been systematically and evilly devouring Lebanon the land of the Holy Cedars piece by piece since 1982, and oppressing its people in a bid to subdue them and kill their lust and love for freedom.
Because of the Hezbollah savage occupation, No solution is currently possible what so ever in Lebanon for any social or economic crisis in any domain and on any level for any problem being big or small while the country remains under its Iranian and terrorist occupation.
Those rotten and Trojan politicians and political parties’ leaders who are calling for a new government are cowardly and sadly keeping a blind eye on the Hezbollah devastating occupation which is the actual problem.
Because they are opportunist and mere merchants they are knowingly ignoring the real and actual problem which is the occupation, and in a shameful Dhimmitude stance are appeasing and cajoling the criminal occupier for power gains on the account of the country’s people, stabilty, world wide relations, sovereignty, independence and freedom.
Lebanon needs to be freed from the Hezbollah Iranian occupation, and at the same from all its mercenary politicians, officials and political parties’ chiefs.
Liberation of occupied Lebanon urgently requires that the Lebanese free politicians and leaders call on the UN and on the Free world countries to help in implementing all the clauses of the two UN resolutions 1559 and 1701.
From our Diaspora, we hail and command the courageous and patriotic Lebanese citizens who are bravely involved in the current ongoing demonstrations and sit-ins.
May Almighty God bless, safeguard Lebanon and grant its oppressed people the power and will to free their country and reclaim it back from Hezbollah, the Iranian terrorist Occupier.
Urgent Prayer Request from Heart for Lebanon.org for their Christian work with the growing numbers of Syrian refugees pouring into Lebanon
jackiskeels@aol.com/October 20/2019
Subject: Urgent Prayer Request
As you have been reading and viewing on the news, the Near East has two major events taking place today. Since last Thursday, the people of Lebanon have been demonstrating. They would like to see a new government formed to deal with the economic crisis that is driven in part by the refugee crisis. The protests have spread across the country. Banks are closed and the main labor union is on strike, fuel and other supplies are in short supply.
Therefore, today we have decided to postpone the formal dedication of our new Hope Ministry Center – Bekaa in light of the current situation. This decision has been made out of an abundance of caution and due to the significant logistical issues, that are being experienced throughout the country.
You have also been hearing and seeing the images of the Kurds leaving Northern Syria. While accurate numbers are hard to come by, between 180 to 250 thousand Kurdish people are on the run. Who knows where they will end up, some will most likely come to Lebanon. A cease fire is in place for a few more hours which will allow more Kurds to leave Northern Syria.
Today we are working with 95 Kurdish families under our Holistic Family Ministry. All of them are in our Bible Study program and in our Worship Gatherings. The children are all being served under our Hope on Wheels ministry. We have the indigenous team ready and with the new Hope Ministry Center – Bekaa on line we have the capacity to help many more as they come into Lebanon.
Join us in a conference call for a time of prayer and updates from Lebanon on Thursday, the 24th, at 4:00 pm (EDT). Conference Call # (515) 606-5333 and passcode: 212244 ~ www.HeartforLebanon.org
Pray for the necessary financial investments to come in so we can show the love of Jesus Christ to those who are living in despair. (Invest here)
On behalf of our entire team thank you so much for your prayers.
Independent Secular government
Roger Bejjani/October 22/2019
Principles and action plan of such a government:
1. Free the judicial system for accountability through a rigorous independent prosecution mechanism (maybe a new independent prosecution task force).
Refer to cases to be investigated.
2. Engage the international community for a medium term bailing out (cedre).
3. New electoral law based on the uninominal circumscription with no parity and no sectarian consideration.
4. Early elections based on the new law.
5. Restrict bank cash withdrawals of over USD 5000 a day and USD 15000 a month per individual and transfers abroad to be justifiable and pre-approved.
6. Make USD invoicing and salaries illegal.
7. Maintain the USD/LBP exchange rate at LBP 1550 for the USD.
8. Reduce the interest rate to a 5% on the USD max and 7% on LBP irrespective of the deposited amount.
9. Trim the administration and send home 25,000 between civil servants and professors. Compensate them with a generous indemnity.
10. Re-activate Kafalat boosting small and medium businesses.
11. Seriously address the environment challenges.
12. Implement a smart not populist waste management strategy.
13. Secure freedom of speech and expression.
14. Adopt Hariri’s budget of 2020 and up-date it.
15. Breaking the parity principle and adopting solely the meritocratic system.
16. Cut all ties between the political system and the various sects. Including the monetary ones.
CASES TO BE INVESTIGATED
1. Kahraba. The main sources of expenditures and the number 1 reason of the debt. Hundreds of millions of USD are suspected to have been derived to political figures and the Syrian occupiers.
2. The various financial and monetary engineering that have taken place since 1994 until today. It is suspected that those engineering have generated abnormally high profits to certain individuals.
3. Sukleen. It is suspected that Sukleen used to pay for favoritism to certain political leaders in various forms.
4. The political employment of unneeded civil servants and professors by political leaders rewarding at the state expenditures their political clientele.
Other cases. But those 4 files would represent the major areas that in the one hand have caused our public debt and on the other hand where corruption and/or abuse of power may have taken place.
Hariri Eyes ‘Very Positive’ Donor Response to Reforms
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/October 22/2019
Prime Minister Saad Hariri started meeting foreign envoys Tuesday, his adviser said, adding that he expected a very positive response to the cabinet’s adoption of major economic reforms. Senior adviser Nadim Munla said Hariri had begun a series of meetings with key ambassadors in Beirut, six days into a mass anti-government protest movement, which has drawn muted reactions from Lebanon’s top foreign allies. “We believe, after the announcement of the decisions of the cabinet yesterday, that we’re going to get very positive reactions from them,” Munla told reporters.
“This has been the main demand by most of the members of the international community,” he added. On Monday, Hariri announced that his fractious cabinet had agreed on wide-ranging economic measures, including a 2020 budget and a number of key reforms. Elements of the reforms had been blocked by some of Hariri’s governing partners, but Munla said pressure from the unprecedented protests had helped push them through.
The reform package includes a privatization program and debt reduction drive that aim to reassure donors and allow for the disbursement of a huge aid package approved in Paris last year. Munla also said he hoped the package announced Monday would “lead to some positive reactions on the market.”The reforms also included a series of measures designed to fight rampant corruption, one of the main grievances of the hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating since last week. But the protesters dismissed the new measures as insufficient and a desperate move by the political class to save their jobs.
Munla said a new anti-graft law was being drafted and that suggestions made by civil society would be included in the bill. “The pressure that has been manifested over the last days and possibly weeks, personally, I believe it’s irreversible and it’s going to lead to very concrete laws,” he said. President Michel Aoun has said that he was in favor of lifting banking secrecy on the accounts of ministers.
“I think they (ministers) are going to respond, what I have seen, is that there is a movement in that direction,” Munla said. He added that a cabinet reshuffle was not ruled out, saying, “I think this will be determined in the coming few days. It is one of the options.” Munla said restoring the people’s confidence in their government “is not going to be an easy job. It’s going to be an uphill battle.”He added that international companies like Siemens, General Electric or Mitsubishi will have a two-month window to make bids for constructing new power stations, with the winning bid announced two months later.
He said the plants — which will take years to build — should increase Lebanon’s power production by 1,000 megawatts by mid-2020. Lebanon currently produces about 2,000 megawatts, while its peak demand is nearly 3,500 megawatts. Residents rely on private generators to cover the deficit.
From 2007 until 2010, Lebanon’s economy grew at an average of 9% annually. But it hit a major downturn in 2011, when a political crisis brought down the government and the uprising in neighboring Syria stoked unrest among Lebanese factions. Since then, growth has averaged a mere 1.5%, according to government estimates. Munla said there will be no economic growth in 2020. Nearly three decades after the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, Lebanon still experiences frequent cutoffs of water and electricity. With public transport networks virtually non-existent, its aging roads are clogged with traffic. Chronic problems with waste management have sparked mass protests in recent years.
France gives tentative nod to Lebanese government over reforms
Reuters, Paris/Tuesday, 22 October 2019
France said on Tuesday that it was encouraging the Lebanese government to push ahead with the necessary reforms to restore the economy and that it remained committed to putting into action decisions made at a donor’s conference last year.
Lebanon’s Cabinet on Monday approved an emergency reform package in a bid to defuse the biggest protests the country has seen in decades and help unlock billions pledged in Paris last year. “France is attentive to the latest developments in Lebanon. It calls for the preservation of the peaceful nature of the protests and the strict respect of the rights of all Lebanese to protest,” Foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von Der Muhll said in a statement. “It renews its encouragement to the Lebanese government to carry out the necessary reforms to enable the restoration of the Lebanese economy and the provision of public services by the State, for the direct benefit of all Lebanese citizens,” she said. Lebanon, which has been battered by eight years of war in neighboring Syria and is hosting more than a million Syrian refugees, wants the funds for investment to overhaul its infrastructure and lift dwindling economic growth. Donors in turn want to see Lebanon commit to long-stalled reforms and work to curb corruption. “France stands alongside Lebanon. It is in this perspective that we are committed, with our international partners, to the rapid implementation of the decisions taken at the CEDRE conference in Paris in April 2018,” von der Muhll said. She made no specific reference to the decisions announced by the Lebanese government on Monday.
PM’s office says foreign governments back Lebanon reform goals
Reuters, Beirut/Tuesday, 22 October 2019
Foreign governments backed the Lebanese government’s reform targets on Tuesday, Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s office cited the country’s UN coordinator Jan Kubis as saying. Hariri met ambassadors including from the United States, Russia, China, the European Union and the Arab league, his
office said. They urged Lebanon to address the demands of protesters, refrain from using violence against them, and work to curb corruption, it said. Protesters gathered in Riad al-Solh Square in Beirut on Tuesday as nationwide demonstrations in Lebanon continued for the sixth day. Reforms announced by Lebanon’s government are expected to get a “very positive” reaction from foreign donors and send a clear message that the country is handling its budget deficit, senior government adviser Nadim Munla said earlier on Tuesday.
ISG Backs Hariri’s Reforms, People’s Right to Democratic Expression
Naharnet/October 22/2019
Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks Tuesday at the Grand Serail with the International Support Group for Lebanon, which included the ambassadors of the U.S., Russia, France, the UK, Germany, Italy, and the EU as well as the Chinese charge d’affaires the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, and the Arab League representative. “Prime Minister Hariri informed the ambassadors about the serious reform overdue measures taken yesterday by the government, be it as a part of the draft 2020 budget to be adopted within the constitutional deadline, or outside the budget,” an English-language statement released by Hariri’s office quoted U.N. Special Coordinator Jan Kubis as saying after the meeting. “Hariri reiterated that these and other envisaged measures are just first steps. He credited the consensus in government around them to the men and women that have in the past days protested for their national dignity, restoring national identity and putting it above the sectarian or confessional identity,” Kubis added. He said Hariri reconfirmed that these measures are not meant to ask the protesters to “stop expressing anger” as that is “a decision that only they can take.”“If early parliamentary elections are their demand, it is only their voice to decide,” the statement quoted Hariri as telling Kubis. “He also confirmed that the government will not allow anyone to threaten the protesters and that the state has the duty to protect the peaceful expression of legitimate demands,” Kubis added. He said the International Support Group expressed its support for the reform objectives that Hariri has outlined and the decisions endorsed by the cabinet, which are “in line with the aspirations of the Lebanese people.”The ISG applauds “the democratic expression of the Lebanese people and their calls for just, social, responsible and acceptable deep reforms and changes that should substantially reduce corruption and waste (of public funds) and move away from sectarianism and should put government in full accountability and lead to sustainable development and stability. Their grievances must be addressed,” Kubis added, according to the statement issued by Hariri’s office. “The ISG welcomes the largely responsible behavior of the Internal Security Forces and the Lebanese Armed Forces that notably since Saturday have respected people’s right to peaceful protest,” the U.N. official said. “It takes note of Prime Minster Hariri’s commitment that the government and its legitimate security forces will continue providing protection to peaceful demonstrating civilians while taking appropriate action against possible instigators of violence, in protection of public and private property and institutions and right of people to peacefully express their opinion,” Kubis went on to say. He said the ISG urges the leaders and political actors of Lebanon to “listen to the legitimate demands of the people, to work with them on solutions and their implementation and to refrain from rhetoric and actions that could inflame tensions and incite confrontation and violence.”“The ISG reiterates its strong support for Lebanon and its people, for its territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence,” Kubis added.Hariri had earlier met with the French Ambassador Bruno Foucher, the Russian Ambassador Alexander Zasypkin and the Ambassador of the United Kingdom Chris Rampling.`
Paris Urges Respect for Lebanese Right to Protest, Encourages Reforms
Associated Press/Naharnet/October 22/2019
France’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that Paris is closely following the developments in Lebanon, adding that the protests should remain peaceful and the right of Lebanese to protest should be respected. It said France encourages the Lebanese government to carry out reforms in order for the CEDRE conference resolutions to be implemented. France, Lebanon’s former colonial ruler, remains a major player in Lebanese politics. Embattled Prime Minister Saad Hariri sought international support Tuesday for economic reforms announced a day earlier, which were intended to pacify massive protests calling for his government to resign. Hariri hopes the reform package will increase foreign investments and help Lebanon’s struggling economy. But the nationwide demonstrations that began last week only grew larger Monday after the reforms were announced, with protesters dismissing them as more of the same “empty promises” seen in past decades that never materialized. Lebanon’s biggest demonstrations in 15 years have unified an often-divided public in their revolt against status-quo leaders who have ruled for three decades and brought the economy to the brink of disaster. Rampant corruption has also hollowed out the country’s infrastructure and basic services. In downtown Beirut, thousands of protesters were digging for a sixth day of demonstrations, insisting Hariri’s government resign. Scores of other protesters held a sit-in outside the central bank, while protests in other cities and town continued as well.Hariri held meetings Tuesday with ambassadors from the U.S., Russia, China, the European Union and the 22-member Arab League to explain the reform package. “These measures are only the first step,” Hariri told the envoys, as quoted in a statement released by his office. He said the package came after being “unanimously agreed upon by the government because of the young men and women who demonstrated over the past days for the sake of national dignity.”
Western Countries Praise Lebanese Protests
Beirut – Khalil Fleihan/Asharq Al Awsat/October 22/2019
Western countries did not evacuate their nationals from Lebanon over recent anti-government protests because their security assessments concluded that the popular movement did not pose a threat to their diplomats or individuals working in private firms. The embassies, such as the United States mission, only advised nationals to avoid protest areas and others perceived as dangerous. Asharq Al-Awsat learned that security officials at a number of western embassies, including the great powers, considered that this movement does not jeopardize their diplomats or nationals. During five days of protests, no heavy weapons were used, in contrast to the civil war when embassies had to evacuate their staff and nationals.Two acts of violence were witnessed over the past five days when former MP Misbah al-Ahdab’s bodyguards accidentally opened fire in the northern city of Tripoli. The second saw a scuffle erupt between Minister Akram Shehayyeb’s bodyguards and protesters in Beirut. An ambassador of a major power revealed that he formed a cell to monitor the popular protests in all regions. Observers noted the understanding position of security forces and the military in dealing with the demonstrators. They have tolerated some rioters, such as those who threw rocks and empty bottles at them. The violence ultimately left 57 soldiers wounded. Riot police have not been forced to take any action. The ambassador said the protest slogans revealed that the Lebanese people have moved on past sectarian divisions and are seeking to eliminate any sectarian chants and are only carrying the Lebanese flag, not political ones. A European country ambassador said the movement was calm and civil and that its positives outweigh the negatives. Western diplomatic circles also hailed Prime Minister Saad Hariri for stressing that the security forces were protecting the protesters.
Lebanese Keep Up Protests as Jumblat Downplays Proposed Reforms as ‘Weak Drugs’
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 22/2019
Tens of thousands of Lebanese protesters kept the country on lockdown on Tuesday, rallying for a sixth consecutive day to demand new leaders despite the government’s adoption of an emergency economic rescue plan. Demonstrations initially sparked by a proposed tax on WhatsApp and other messaging apps quickly grew into an unprecedented cross-sectarian street mobilization against the political class. The movement has spread to all major cities and into Lebanon’s vast diaspora. The cabinet was spurred into passing wide-ranging economic reforms on Monday, but the move failed to win over protesters, who now seem bent on removing the entire political elite, which they see as corrupt. Tuesday’s protests initially seemed smaller than on previous days, but they swelled in the afternoon, with thousands gathering in central Beirut. Protester Abdel Amir Ramadan, a 73-year-old from Beirut’s southern suburbs, lamented the state of the country. “Lebanon used to be the Paris of the Middle East. Now it’s the dumping ground of the Middle East,” he said. He was unconvinced by the government’s rescue plan, announced on Monday by Prime Minister Saad Hariri. “They have been in power for years, why did they just wake up to these reforms now?” Ramadan asked. “Today, the decisions are not in their hands. They are in the hands of the people.”Among the measures were a 2020 budget meant to bring the deficit down to 0.63 percent of GDP, without new taxes, along with a privatization program and projects to support the underprivileged. The agreed reforms will also halve the salaries of current and former lawmakers and ministers.
‘Let the banks pay’
A couple of dozen demonstrators shouted slogans in front of the central bank on Tuesday, despite the premier’s announcement. “Down with the rule of the central bank. We won’t pay the taxes. Let the banks pay them,” they chanted. Heiko Wimmen, analyst with the International Crisis Group, said it appeared Monday’s measures were not enough. “These mostly technical solutions may put the country on a sounder fiscal footing, but they appear inadequate to the challenge of the protests, which now demand broader, systemic change,” he said. The country’s main parties, including those of President Michel Aoun and the powerful Iran-backed Hizbullah, have warned of a political vacuum and supported the reform package. Hariri met top ambassadors in Beirut Tuesday, hoping to restore confidence that Lebanon can handle its ballooning debt and unlock a huge aid package approved in Paris last year.
“We believe, after the announcement of the decisions of the cabinet yesterday, that we’re going to get very positive reactions” from the international community,” senior Hariri adviser Nadim Munla told reporters. Lebanon’s economy has been sliding closer to the abyss in recent months, with public debt soaring past 150 percent of GDP and ratings agencies grading Lebanese sovereign bonds as “junk.” Fears of a default have compounded the worries of Lebanese citizens exasperated by the poor quality of public services.Residents suffer daily electricity shortages and unclean water.
‘Only chance’
On Tuesday morning, the Lebanese Army was trying to reopen a number of major roads that have been blocked by demonstrators for days, the state-run National News Agency reported. In Beirut, volunteers cleaned up streets after euphoric crowds partied deep into the night on Monday, dancing to impromptu concerts and DJ sets. It is unclear how long protests will last, but banks said they would remain closed on Wednesday, having shuttered last week as the demonstrations gained momentum. Given the size of the gatherings, the six-day-old mobilization has been remarkably incident-free, with armies of volunteers providing water to protesters and organizing first aid tents. Hariri seemed aware that the measures he announced would not quench the people’s thirst for change, telling protestors on Monday the plan was not simply a “trade-off” to get people off the streets. Lebanon fought a devastating 15-year civil war that ended in 1990 and many of the country’s politicians today were formerly warlords fighting along sectarian lines in the conflict. Outside of Lebanon, expats in Europe, the United States and Africa staged sit-ins and demonstrations in solidarity. In Beirut, Mounir Malaeb, an elderly man from the southern city of Tyre who came to the capital to join the rallies, said the protest movement was “the only chance the people have.” “If we give the government another chance, we would be crazy,” he said. “We have been giving them chances since the 1990s.”Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, a powerful politician who has representatives in the government, criticized the reforms as “weak drugs” that aim to buy time.
Army Says ‘Impostor Cleric’ Held for Distributing Money to Protesters
Naharnet/October 22/2019
A man claiming to be a Shiite Muslim cleric has been arrested for distributing money to protesters in downtown Beirut, the army said on Tuesday. “A force from the Intelligence Directorate arrested Mohammed Ali Tarshishi for claiming to be a cleric and distributing money of an unknown source to protesters in the city of Beirut,” an army statement said.“The detainee is being interrogated under the supervision of the competent judicial authorities,” the military added.The man had appeared in videos circulated on Monday.
Shehayyeb Reverses Decision on Reopening of Educational Institutes
Naharnet/October 22/2019
Education Minister Akram Shehayyeb on Tuesday backpedaled on a decision for the reopening of educational institutes, as massive and unprecedented protests that have brought the country to a standstill continued for a sixth day. “Due to the continued blocking of roads, the minister of education and higher education announces the closure tomorrow, Wednesday and until further notice of public and private schools, secondary schools and vocational institutes,” a statement said. The minister had earlier called on educational institutions to resume classes Wednesday morning “out of keenness on students’ interest and the academic year.”Shehayyeb later clarified that his decision does not have a “political motive” and is not aimed at harming the popular protests. The country’s catholic and evangelical schools and the Saint Joseph University had announced that they will close Wednesday despite the minister’s previous call for the resumption of classes. Groups of Lebanese University students taking part in the protests had also announced that they would not attend classes. A group of faculty members at the American University of Beirut meanwhile called for a strike, saying there is a need to “align with the broader demands of the masses.”“Any return to normalcy is a counter political act of ‘doing business as usual’ whereas in the country we have large scale social mobilization and strikes across different sectors,” they said in a statement.
Berri: Govt. Should Have Paralleled Plan with Immediate Reforms
Naharnet/October 22/2019
Speaker Nabih Berri was “satisfied” with the emergency plan approved by the government a day earlier, but stressed the need to parallel it with actual “immediate” measures, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. However, the Speaker noted that a series of immediate reforms should have been placed along with the Cabinet’s statement. He also stressed the need to launch the National Commission for the Abolition of Political Sectarianism, “this step is urgently needed in order to reach the civil state,” he was quoted as saying “it is the solution to all the Lebanese suffering.”
Lebanon’s cabinet Monday approved a raft of economic reforms and agreed on the 2020 budget, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said, after growing protests that fueled calls for his government’s resignation. The premier told a televised press conference after a cabinet meeting that the measures, including a halving of salaries of MPs and ministers, were not merely an attempt to quell the demonstrations, in which the political class has been the main target. The protests which started five days earlier over tax hikes have evolved into an unprecedented push to remove Lebanon’s entire political leadership.
Report: Nasrallah Met Khalil Sunday
Naharnet/October 22/2019
A three-hour meeting was reportedly held Sunday between Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and AMAL Movement Minister of Finance Ali Hassan Khalil in the presence of Hajj Hussein Khalil, political assistant to Nasrallah, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. According to the daily, discussions tackled the latest developments and the swelling protest movement seeking the removal of the entire political class. The two reportedly discussed the economic rescue plan prepared by Prime Minister Saad Hariri. According to information, Nasrallah made some observations about the paper and that he approached it “positively.”
Lebanese Protesters Sing Into the Night, Unsatisfied With New Economic Reforms
Reuters/October 22/2019
Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri says new reforms meant to work toward protesters’ demands but some of Lebanon’s dollar-denominated bound dropped to record lows. Lebanon approved an emergency reform package on Monday in response to protests over dire economic conditions, but the moves did not persuade demonstrators to leave the streets or investors to halt a plunge in its bonds. Protesters sang into the night in Beirut and continued to demonstrate in other parts of the country. Hundreds of thousands of people have flooded the streets since Thursday, furious at a political class they accuse of pushing the economy to the point of collapse. Roads were blocked for a fifth day across the country. Schools, banks and businesses were closed, and the banks are expected to remain shut on Tuesday. Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, in a televised speech, said the new measures might not meet the protesters’ demands but were a start towards achieving some of them. But despite the reforms, Lebanon’s dollar-denominated bounds suffered hefty losses on Monday following sharp drops on Friday. Some sank to record lows. Investors said the turmoil showed Lebanon was running out of time to fix its economic problems. The protests have been extraordinary because of their size and geographic reach in a country where political movements are normally divided on sectarian lines and struggle to draw nationwide appeal.
Army Stops ‘Provocative’ Hizbullah, AMAL Flag Bearers on Motorbikes
Naharnet/October 22/2019
The Lebanese Army cracked down on Hizbullah and AMAL Movement supporters on motorbikes as they aggressively roamed some streets in Beirut carrying the parties’ flags and shouting insults against what they called “the revolution.”The motorbikes on Monday evening tried to terrorize and provoke the protesters in downtown Beirut and infiltrate their ranks but the army prevented them. Protesters meanwhile vowed to resist any attempt to scare them from peaceful protests by anybody. The army upped security measures on all the roads leading to Beirut’s Riad al-Solh Square where protest movements are swelling seeking the removal of the entire political class. The motorbikes have reportedly “returned to Beirut’s southern suburbs” after roaming the capital’s streets. The National News Agency said the motorbikes passed through the Ras al-Nabaa, Verdun and Tariq al-Jedideh areas.
Video footage meanwhile showed them passing outside Speaker Nabih Berri’s headquarters in Ain el-Tineh while shouting loyalist slogans.
Popular Revolt Puts Hizbullah under Rare Street Pressure
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 22/2019
When mass anti-government protests engulfed Lebanon, a taboo was broken as strongholds of Hizbullah saw rare demonstrations criticizing the party and revered leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. On live TV and in protest sites, citizens accused the party of providing political cover for a corrupt government that they say has robbed people of their livelihoods. This shattered the myth of absolute acquiesence among Hizbullah’s popular base, baffling even those who hail from the movement’s strongholds. “No one ever expected that in any of these areas in south Lebanon we would hear a single word against Nasrallah,” or AMAL Movement leader Nabih Berri, said Sara, a 32-year-old activist who participated in protests in the southern city of Nabatiyeh. “It’s unbelievable,” the activist added, asking to use a pseudonym due to security concerns. The popular Iran-backed movement is a major political player that took 13 seats in the country’s May 2018 parliamentary elections and secured three cabinet posts. It helped its Christian ally Michel Aoun assume the presidency in 2016 and has since backed his government despite popular dissatisfaction that peaked last week following protests over taxes, corruption and dire economic conditions. South Lebanon — a bastion of the powerful Shiite movement since the group liberated the region from Israeli occupation in 2000 — was not spared.
Protests have been reported in the cities of Nabatiyeh, Bint Jbeil, and Tyre, where Hizbullah and its political affiliate the AMAL Movement hold sway.
With the exception of Tyre, they were not as big as other parts of the country. But “the novelty here is that some of these protesters are party loyalists,” said Sara. “They support Hizbullah, but they are suffocating.”Among his supporters, Nasrallah is revered as an icon, with his pictures inundating highways, shops and homes. In the past, his followers have mobilized against anyone who tried to criticize him, often ostracizing opponents as supporters of rival Israel.
‘The resistance’
But anti-government protests that started in Beirut on October 17 and quickly spread across the country left no politician unscathed, not even the Hizbullah leader. “All of them means all of them, Nasrallah is one of them,” protesters chanted in Beirut. Criticism of Nasrallah even aired on the Hizbullah-run Al-Manar TV, in a scene that was previously unfathomable for watchers of the movement’s media arm. In a live interview from central Beirut, one protester urged Nasrallah to “look after his people in Lebanon” instead of focusing on regional enterprises like Syria, where he has deployed fighters to defend President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Nasrallah acknowledged the mounting criticism against him in a speech on Saturday: “Curse me, I don’t mind.” Speaking on the protesters demands, he warned against calling for the resignation of the government — saying it could take a long time to form a new one and solve the crisis. Hatem Gharbeel, a protester in Nabatiyeh, said Hizbullah loyalists felt let down. “The messages being addressed to Nasrallah by his own supporters in Nabatiyeh is that the resistance is not just about fighting Israel or terrorism,” he said. “It should also be about supporting people’s livelihoods.”
Other party heads have come in for even greater criticism. Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Foreign Minster Jebran Bassil and Speaker Nabih Berri have been the targets of strong insults and slurs by demonstrators, even in areas where they are popular.
‘Nothing to lose’
But the relatively toned-down criticism of Nasrallah has broken taboos, said Gharbeel. “The barrier of fear has been broken, ” he said. “It shows that people are not blindly following their political or sectarian leaders anymore.” Lokman Slim, an independent political activist and an outspoken critic of Hizbullah, said that resentment among Lebanon’s Shiite community “is not born out of a single event or a single moment.””Frustration has been fermenting over the past few years over an economic crisis hampering not just the Lebanese state but also Hizbullah’s statelet.”Hizbullah has filled in for the weak central government in areas where it has influence, creating social welfare institutions and provided an array of public services, including education and health services. But the group has come under financial strain due to tightening U.S. sanctions since President Donald Trump assumed office, forcing Nasrallah to appeal to his popular base for donations earlier this year. “The Shiites have nothing to lose anymore,” said Slim. “This is why they are out on the streets.”
Lebanon, Chile, Algeria, Hong Kong: The Planet in Revolt
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 22/2019
Authorities are battling popular uprisings in several parts of the world at once as people from vastly different countries — from Lebanon to Hong Kong — rage against common enemies: economic inequality and perceived marginalization.
It’s about money
In Chile, it was a 30-peso ($0.0004) rise in the price of a metro ticket that brought people out on the streets in anger, in Lebanon it was a tax on WhatsApp calls in a country with already high rates. “This is not happening because they raised the metro fare by 30 pesos,” said a man who gave his name only as Orlando, taking part in protests in Santiago this week against the growing gap between rich and poor. “This is about the situation of the last 30 years,” said the 55-year-old, lamenting long queues at clinics, waiting lists at hospitals, high medicine prices and declining purchasing power. “Inequalities are widening everywhere,” said analyst Thierry de Montbrial of the French Institute of International Relations. “It is linked to globalization, to the technology revolution, and the societal changes this has brought about. The crushing of the middle class is… a global phenomenon.” In a report in January, poverty monitor Oxfam said the world’s 26 richest individuals now own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world’s more than seven billion people. While billionaires saw their combined fortune grow by $2.5 billion each day in 2018, the world’s poorest 3.8 million people saw their relative wealth decline by $500 million per day, or 11 percent in 2018. This is just the kind of imbalance fueling people’s anger with ruling elites that often boost their already big fortunes through corrupt means. On the streets of Beirut, for example, protesters called Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has accumulated vast wealth in his 27 years on the job, a “thief”, and railed against reports that Prime Minister Saad Hariri had paid $16 million to a South African model. All this while “we are dying at the hospital gates,” lamented Hoda Sayyour, one of the demonstrators.
Equality
More and more, ordinary citizens are clamoring to have a say in government decisions, and rejecting the top-down imposition of leaders and policies. In Hong Kong, protests against a proposal to allow extraditions of criminal suspects to mainland China morphed into increasingly angry and sometimes violent anti-government, pro-democracy mobilization. In Algeria, anti-regime protests have been underway since February, with demands for political reform and the removal of regime insiders ahead of a presidential vote to replace longtime leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned in April. “The traditional system of enforcing power from top to bottom is increasingly being challenged… there is a social revolution with a growing demand for participatory democracy,” said De Montbrial. In Spain, it is a quest for independence that has brought Catalan separatists out on the streets as the government refuses to talk to their leader.
En masse, young people worldwide are rejecting traditional concepts of power and authority, recently taking to the streets of world capitals in their tens of thousands under the logo Extinction Rebellion to denounce the harm humans are inflicting on the planet. The movement advocates non-violent civil disobedience to drive the point across.
New tactics
The current rebellious climate spreads easily on social media, which has become an ever-more a popular platform for mobilizing the disaffected — including France’s anti-government “yellow vest” protesters who have no traditional leadership or organizational structure. “Social networks allow people who do not know each other to mobilize around a shared cause,” said Arnaud Mercier of the Pantheon-Assas University in Paris. “It offers a simple way to circulate information, call meetings, and give instructions.” With no hierarchy and often no leader, these modern-day protesters baulk at the traditional of negotiating with law enforcement and public authorities, which has completely “shaken up” the status quo, he added. This has caught many governments by surprise. “The regimes of the day, like in 2011 (when popular revolts overthrew dictators in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia) are reacting too little too late to the aspirations of their own people, displaying their ignorance of the changing dynamic and their lack of knowledge of their own societies,” Didier Billion wrote in a recent analysis for the Institute for International and Strategic Relations thinktank.
From the virtual world to the real world: How Lebanese youth’s online revolution powered street protests
Najla Houssari/Arab News/October 22, 2019
The ‘electronic revolution’ is parallel to the revolution on the streets. It is mostly comprised of young people aged 12 and above.
For the first five days of the demonstrations, television images transmitted live to the Lebanese public provided the incentive for people to take to the streets
On the sixth day, activists reconsidered social media, and WhatsApp has become the most-used platform to transmit live images
BEIRUT: The Lebanese youth revolt against tax increases and corruption began on social media with protests about a proposed levy on WhatsApp, bringing dissent from the virtual world to the real world. For the first five days of the demonstrations, television images transmitted live to the Lebanese public provided the incentive for people to take to the streets. On the sixth day, activists reconsidered social media, and WhatsApp has become the most-used platform to transmit live images. The objection of Lebanese army soldiers to motorcyclists holding the flags of Amal and Hezbollah led to the protest rally in Riad Al-Solh Square in central Beirut on Monday night. This reassured those who were still apprehensive about taking to the street. The “electronic revolution” is parallel to the revolution on the streets. It is mostly comprised of young people aged 12 and above.
Politicians should talk to these young people using modern means, which is what Prime Minister Saad Hariri has done. On his Twitter account, Hariri tweeted part of his speech after the cabinet meeting: “I will not allow anyone to threaten young demonstrators. Your voice is heard, and if your demand is an early election to make your voice heard, I am with you. You have returned the Lebanese identity to its right place outside any sectarian restriction.”Activists leading the protests have been devising various forms of electronic attraction to motivate people to take to the street, including a video with the signature “Do you know why?” It includes songs about how to defy injustice, recounting the reasons for the revolution and filing “preliminary” demand papers summarizing the demands of people speaking on the street and in front of the cameras.
The hashtag #down_with_Bank_governor coincided with the move by some activists on Tuesday to the Central Bank of Lebanon to protest against the policy of its governor Riad Salameh. However, the response came through the same electronic means and other applications defending the governor.
Many rumors are circulating on social media, including that the president summoned the TV media for consultation and that there is a fear that the aim is to pressure the owners of the TV stations to stop transmitting live demonstrations to prevent protesters from expressing their opinion.
The most well-known action was that of the sister of the Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil resorting to social media to defend President Aoun and her brother.
Dr. Iman Eliwan, a professor of modern media, said that young Lebanese view social media as their “only platform of expression, and touching it ignited the first spark of the protests. And resorting to it during the protests aimed at activating ‘networking’ to prevent any possibility of laxity and to remain united using one language.”And whether the absence of a unified reference for the movement is caused by this “networking,” she said: “It is possible that there may be group leaders on social media, and they consider these platforms as their strength.”Eliwan added: “These young people express deep anger and this happens at their age. We used to say that they belonged to the Sofa Party. But they went down to the streets. They control the streets. Maybe they are marginalized in their homes and in their communities.”Asked if these online revolutions have achieved any results, she said: “It has not reached anywhere in the experiences that we have seen in the Arab world. It can ignite the spark and activate the movement, but the horizon of this movement is deadlocked.
Argentina Designates Hezbollah a Terror Group
لوس بتري/كايستون: الأرجنتين تصنف حزب الله مجموعة إرهابية
Luis Petri/Gatestone Institute/October 22/2019
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/79739/%d9%84%d9%88%d9%8a%d8%b3-%d8%a8%d8%aa%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d8%b1%d8%ac%d9%86%d8%aa%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%aa%d8%b5%d9%86%d9%81-%d8%ad%d8%b2%d8%a8-%d8%a7/
This past July… President Macri published Argentina’s first public registry (RePET) of those tied to terrorism. He made a clear commitment to the fight against international terrorism. The public registry is a historical landmark containing over 1,000 entries of individuals and entities tied to terrorism in Argentina, including Hezbollah.
The registry will function under the Ministry of Justice, but the Ministry of Security and our Financial Intelligence Unit or UIF-AR will have the power to designate terror groups by requesting to freeze the assets of known terrorist actors. This whole-of-government approach ensures that the country can use a variety of tools when targeting terrorists.
Previously, the only people in Argentina labeled as terrorists were those considered terrorists by the U.N. Security Council. This [new] registry works to target all terrorist organizations in the international arena, as well as persons or entities under investigation in Argentina.
Argentine Congressman Luis Petri (center) presenting about Argentina’s new anti-terrorism public registry at an event organized by the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) on July 25, 2019, at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington D.C.
The following is an edited and translated transcript of a speech given by Argentine Congressman Luis Petri on July 25, 2019 at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington D.C. during an event hosted by the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the AMIA attack in Argentina. This speech has been slightly modified and reorganized for clarity by the editors, with the approval from Congressman Petri.
There is a before and after when you consider the effects of September 11th in the world. But in Argentina, this “before and after” began a lot earlier. In 1992, the Embassy of Israel was bombed [in Buenos Aires], followed two years later [on July 18, 1994] by one of the worst terrorist attacks in Argentina against the AMIA Jewish community center, and causing 85 casualties and wounded many more.
In the wake of this attack, and before President [Mauricio] Macri took office, Argentina lacked a clear policy regarding [international] terrorism and condemning terrorist actions. Therefore, the attacks went largely unpunished.
In 2013, the former president [and current candidate for vice president], Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, creating a “truth commission” supposedly to analyze evidence against those accused in the 1994 terrorist attack. The opposition, however, determined, that the only goal of the MOU was to seek impunity [for Iran] by removing the Interpol red notice against those responsible for the AMIA attack. The MOU, shortly after being signed, was declared unconstitutional by the Argentine judicial system.
On January 15, 2015, the AMIA special prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, shocked [the world] when he publicly indicted then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for betraying Argentina and the AMIA victims. The MOU was at the heart of Nisman’s accusation, [alleging that the Kirchner government negotiated an illegal back-door deal with Iran]. The day before Nisman was scheduled to appear publicly before the Argentine National Congress to testify about his allegation, he was found murdered in his high-rise apartment in Buenos Aires.
The assassination of Alberto Nisman represents the ongoing impunity of those who perpetrated the horrific terrorist act 25 years ago. Today, Nisman is the 86th victim of the AMIA attack.
When President [Mauricio] Macri took office in December 2015, he turned the tide and has been fighting for justice [for the AMIA victims] since his presidency began. One of the first measures President Macri made, was to instruct his Minister of Justice to uphold the ruling that declared the MOU unconstitutional.
Additionally, he asked his government to work as quickly as possible to hold a trial in absentia for those [in Iran] believed to be responsible for the AMIA attack.
For 25 years, Argentines gather every July 18th on Pasteur Street in downtown Buenos Aires in front of the AMIA building, commemorating the memory of the victims of the terrorist attack and asking for justice and truth. This call was answered in 2019, this past July, when President Macri published Argentina’s first public registry (RePET) of those tied to terrorism. He made a clear commitment to the fight against international terrorism. The public registry is a historical landmark containing over 1,000 entries of individuals and entities tied to terrorism in Argentina, including Hezbollah. This registry or RePET is used to provide access and exchange information, facilitating international counterterrorism cooperation [with our allies]. Third-party countries can request to have persons or entities tied to terrorism included in RePET upon the consideration taken by the Argentine government and as long as there is a link to Argentina.
The registry will function under the Ministry of Justice, but the Ministry of Security and our Financial Intelligence Unit or UIF-AR will have the power to designate terror groups by requesting to freeze the assets of known terrorist actors. This whole-of-government approach ensures that the country can use a variety of tools when targeting terrorists. Just a day after the registry was created, the Financial Intelligence Unit of Argentina (UIF-AR), led by Mariano Federici, ordered the country-wide freeze on Hezbollah’s assets in our country.
Before this executive action by President Macri, Hezbollah was not officially recognized [as a terrorist organization] in Argentina. If someone wanted to raise their flag, they would have been able to do so. Previously, the only people in Argentina labeled as terrorists were those considered terrorists by the U.N. Security Council. This [new] registry works to target all terrorist organizations in the international arena, as well as persons or entities under investigation in Argentina.
President Macri’s commitment to fight against terrorism is not limited to this registry. President Macri’s commitment has endured and is comprised of many smaller actions that are less known to the public, but no less important.
In addition to the new registry, Argentina is now using new measures to investigate potential terrorists. One of these new measures is the use of informants and the use of special agents in investigations that were not previously covered under Argentine law. Other measures include the possibility of seizing properties of those who are linked to terrorist activities, stronger immigration control, and Argentina is working to approve legal measures to allow trials in absentia for those responsible for terrorist activities, [including those accused in the AMIA attack].
We need cooperation, we need to work together. We need to fight terrorism wherever it takes place. The United States is a top ally in Argentina’s fight against international terrorism. My commitment, and that of my government, is with the memory of the victims of the AMIA attack. This attack is an open wound for the fabric of Argentine society. Our country demands truth and justice.
Editor’s note: Argentina made history this year as the first Latin American country to designate Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization. This is an important step forward for the region and Argentina is poised to become a leader and role model with their registry (RePET) acting as a roadmap for other Latin American countries seeking to make the same designation of Hezbollah. Less than one month after Argentina, on August 9, 2019, Paraguay designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, as well, giving the region and U.S. allies in Latin America more momentum than ever in the fight against terrorism.
*Translation and editing by Joseph Humire.
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Lebanon’s leaders under siege from people power
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/October 22/2019
Lebanon’s political mosaic is crumbling and the longstanding taboos are now fair game for millions of Lebanese of all sects, who have taken to the streets demanding the “overthrow” of the president, the government and lawmakers. The oligarchy that has ruled over Lebanon for decades, while overseeing the plundering of the state’s resources and the immiseration of its citizens, is now under siege.
What started as spontaneous, initially violent, protests against unfair taxes and the failing economy have become a popular censure of a dysfunctional system. The protests have turned into a peaceful and democratic festival where men and women, young and old, Muslim and Christian, Sunni, Shiite and Druze from all over this small but diverse country celebrate their unity as Lebanese and not as members of rival sects or ethnicities.
Not since the Cedar Revolution of 2005, when people revolted against the decades-old Syrian presence following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, have the Lebanese demonstrated such a sense of unity. This time the uprising has spread from Beirut to Tripoli in the north, to Sidon and Tyre in the south and even to Nabatieh — the heart of Hezbollah’s grassroots base.
Lebanon’s ruling overlords were taken by surprise, opting to blame others for failing to carry out economic reforms. Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea called on Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign and later ordered his Cabinet members to quit the government. Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Druze community, called for dialogue and hinted that his ministers would also quit, before changing his mind. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose ministers have a majority in the 30-member Cabinet, warned PM Hariri against resigning and threatened to let his followers take over the streets. The popular response was unnerving: Nasrallah was booed by protesters, who chanted, “All of them means all; Nasrallah is one of them.”
Nasrallah’s ally, President Michel Aoun, had little to say to the protesters. Beleaguered Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, who along with his wife is accused of wide-scale corruption, vowed to hear the protesters’ demands, but not before letting his Amal Movement goons attack demonstrators in Tyre and Sidon. Foreign Minister and Aoun’s son-in-law Gebran Bassil initially accused the protesters of fulfilling a foreign agenda. He became the center of people’s wrath and ridicule.
Not a single leading politician was spared public criticism. People are demanding the removal of all the political elites that have ruled over their respective fiefdoms against a decorative facade of state institutions. People are fed up with massive corruption, cronyism, a sectarian-based political system, unemployment, especially among the youth, rises in the cost of living and failing public services, among others. They want more than the resignation of top officials — they want them to return plundered funds and stand trial.
For three decades, since the signing of the 1989 Taif Agreement, which formalized a quota-based power-sharing setup among Lebanon’s various sects, the country of about 4 million has been hostage to a self-serving oligarchy that has shared not only political power but accumulated wealth from public utilities and national resources. Today, Lebanon’s foreign debt has passed the $85 billion mark and its economy survives only because of a strong banking system and remittances from the 14 million-plus Lebanese in the diaspora.
Since its independence from France in 1943, this country of just 10,000 square kilometers has seen more than its fair share of regional and foreign meddling, civil strife and military interventions, against a backdrop of deepening sectarian and political rivalries. The civil war of 1975 to 1990 was punctuated by the Israeli invasion of 1982, which resulted in internal polarization, massacres against Palestinians and the eventual departure of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanon.
The protesters want more than the resignation of top officials — they want them to return plundered funds and stand trial.
The rise of Shiite resistance, first through Amal and later Hezbollah, became a major game-changer in internal Lebanese politics. Hezbollah’s Iranian connection and its heavily armed militia have led to the organization’s growing manipulation of various local players, finally resulting in its hegemony over the political system that we see today.
Lebanon’s contribution to the Arab world in terms of culture, progressive political ideas, media, music and art, cuisine, and business is unique. The ongoing protests — colorful, daring and largely peaceful — will undoubtedly inspire economically driven protests in the region. We have seen variant examples in Sudan, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan. But, as the political elites scurry to find a compromise that might calm the street, which seems unlikely, the challenge is to save Lebanon from chaos and collapse. The economic reforms approved by the government on Monday, important and necessary as they are, have been largely rejected by the protesters. It is a matter of credibility, or the lack of it, for millions of Lebanese. Hariri noted that he would be willing to support an early election, which is one of the protesters’ demands. For now, it seems the protests will continue and the army has stepped in to offer protection from partisan hooligans.
Hariri may be forced to resign, paving the way for an interim government of nonpartisan experts to prepare for new a general election. That is what the public wants, but some overlords will resist and opt to fight for their survival rather than succumb to the emerging power of the people.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010
